Fate's Will Out
by pooh5839
Summary: Iceman Story with a Character of my own. Iceman has to help Priestess face her fate but will he be strong enough to let her go in order to save the world. Would you be that strong? I don't know if I would be.
1. Do not defy fate

Ok this is my first FanFic. This is a reupload of the first chapter. So please be kind when you read. I'm still trying to get the hang of how this works. I think that I have everything spaced out right. This system is a little different and will take me a bit to get used to. This is how it was set up when I first tried to load it. I hope that I fixed everything. If I missed something let me know and I'll try to fix it. I do not own the X-Men. I wish that they were real. I think it would be a blast to meet them. So now that you know I'm a nut you know what to expect from this story. Please review and let me know how to make it better. I'm not that good at accents so I'm not even going to try. Have fun reading and I'll try to post more in the next few days.  
  
Kurt was keeping to the shadows as he always did. There was no need to keep to the shadows. This was not a mission and he did have his image inducer, so he looked like a normal 20 something guy. All of that did not matter to him. He knew what he was and he also knew what people thought of him. They saw a demon straight out of hell. Kurt did not see the pale skin that the image inducer projected over his blue fur. He saw the three fingered, three-toed demon with a tail that he knew he was.  
  
What he failed to see was the look on the face of the girl hanging on his arm. She had a happy dreamlike smile that few got to see. It only came out when she was around Kurt and even then she tried to hide it. This girl was Kitty Pride and she had had a crush on Kurt for a while now. She thought that it was a secret that no one could tell. She tried to act normal around Kurt but everyone could tell that she liked him, everyone that is but Kurt. Kurt never thought down the lines of love. How could he when he looked the way he did?  
  
The third member of this party was walking a few steps behind having a good laugh at his friends and their messed up love lives. This third member was Bobby Drake, aka Iceman. He was just happy that it was not his love life that made him laugh. He had had more ups and downs with his last girlfriend than he ever had on one of his ice slides. They had just broken up and Bobby didn't want to sit around the house anymore so he talked Kitty and Kurt into going to the Fair that opened a few days ago in Salem center. It was not a very good fair. It had all the normal rides and games. They had just ridden on the tilt-a-whirl and Kurt still seemed a little dizzy. Kitty then saw a tent that offered old tintype photos. Kitty dragged Kurt over to have a picture taken of them dressed as people from the Wild West. Kitty picked out a green and gold striped dress with a very low-neck line that caused Kurt to blush and Bobby to let out a few catcalls. Kurt picked out a suit that was dark brown with a silk type vest and he wore a gun belt around his waist and a big hat on his head. When the picture was done Kurt asked that Kitty not show it around, and of course she agreed. That did not stop Bobby from sneaking back and getting a copy for himself. He had the perfect prank in mind and the photo was the last thing he needed to pull off his master plan. When Bobby caught up to Kitty and Kurt he was able to pick up the end of an argument about where they should go next.

"Kurt I want to go to the fortune teller's tent. I think it will be fun. Don't you want to know what the fates have in store for you? I know that I do." Kitty said with a pleading look on her face that almost always swayed people to her way of thinking.

"No, Kitty I don't want to know what the fates have in store for me. Some things should be left to the unknown. I know better than to play with the fates. If they wanted me to know something I would have a vision or something." Kurt said this with a little more force than Bobby thought was needed.

"Hey guys. What's the big deal? I'll go with Kitty and we can meet back up by the fried dough vendor in 20 min. or we can just go to the fried dough vendor right now. What do you say?" Bobby put an arm around both of his friends and tried to walk to the food stand in question. Kitty lit up at Bobby's offer.

"Sure lets go to the fortune teller and Kurt can stand around and think about the meaning of life or something." She took Bobby's arm and dragged him over to the tent. Bobby gave a last longing look at the fried dough stand and then went inside the tent with Kitty. Kurt stood out side the tent with a small smile on his face from the antics of his friend. Did Bobby ever think of anything but food? Well, food and cartoons were the most common thoughts on Bobby's mind. But as far as Kurt cared that was just Bobby.

Inside the tent there were three people sitting around a table with only a few candles burning to give off light. The tent was dark and had a red tint to the light given off by the candles. Bobby felt a little strange sitting there. There was a dark presence in the tent that almost made it hard to breathe. Kitty did not seem to feel it. She sat listening to the instructions from the old woman across the table from her. The woman wore the standard out fit of a scarf wrapped around her head and big gold hoop earrings, an off the shoulder peasant blouse and a long flowing skirt. She handed Kitty the cards and told her to shuffle them and then hand them back. When Kitty had done this the old woman started to deal out the cards. This was just the normal reading, there is a dark man in your future and he will come and take you away from all your problems. Bobby was not that impressed but Kitty seemed to like what she was hearing. Then as the old woman was about to had the cards over to Bobby; a young girl dressed head to toe in white with a veil hiding her face came running into the tent from the back and slapped the cards out of Bobby's hands.

The old women turned eight shades of red and grab the young girls arm and started to shake her. The girl said nothing through the whole encounter, but Bobby noticed that the Dark feeling was gone the moment she came in the tent. "Priestess why did you stop my reading. I was only half done with these two people. How dare you strike the cards out of his hands! You know what this interference will cost you." The old woman snapped out still shaking the girl on every other word. Still the girl said nothing. Kitty had already gotten to her feet and turned and walked out of the tent. Bobby could not wrap his mind around this. Why would Kitty just leave like that and why was he just sitting there and not trying to help this girl? Then he saw the eyes of the girl under the heavy white veil. They were the palest lavender; with such pain and hopelessness that Bobby wanted to cry for her. That look got him to his feet and he was reaching for her other arm when he felt this push against his mind and body.

The next thing he knew he was out in front of the fried dough vendor with a dreamy Kitty and a puzzled Kurt. "How did I get here? Why does Kitty look so out of it? I have to get back to that tent. I have to save that Priestess girl." Bobby rushed all his thoughts running into one long blur.

"What are you talking about? Who is this Priestess girl and what happened in that tent?" Kurt was calm and steady in the middle of Bobby's breakdown. Kurt had never seen his friend so up set before. Bobby tried to protect the world but he also knew that something's were not his problem to fix. Bobby told Kurt what he could remember of the past 15 min. but for some reason his brain felt a bit foggy. "I'm going to take Kitty home and have Hank and the Professor take a look at her. I have a feeling that someone was messing with both of your heads. Will you be ok for a little while? You promise not to try to save the day or to try to find that Priestess girl. I want Jean or the Professor here when we find her." Kurt had already gathered Kitty in his arms and was preparing to teleport home.

"Sure no hero stuff until the big guns gets here. How dumb do I look? Wait don't answer that. I'll be a good boy and wait for you to get back. Now go and take care of Kitty before she drools all over you." Bobby sits down on a near by bench with his arms crossed and a look of annoyance on his face. Kurt poofed away in a cloud of smoke and brimstone, while Bobby got to his feet and headed over to the tent in question. _So Kurt thinks that I'll just sit around and let something happen to that poor girl. I don't think so.  
_  
Bobby enters the tent only to find that there is no one there. He slips out the back way that he had seen the girl enter from earlier. To his surprise this back entrance opens out on to the living area for the people working the fair. There were tents and RV's all over the place. _How am I going to find her in this maze?_ He thought to himself.

He started walking around looking in some tents and peeking in windows. He was just about to give up and head back to wait for the rest of the gang to get there when he heard something that he could not believe. There was an auction going on. This auction was not for a table or chair but for a person.

"We have a prize tonight men! Our seer has told me that our own High Priestess is to be on the block tonight. The powers have sent a vision that Priestess needs to be shown the penalty for interfering in a reading. You all know the rules. You are bidding for a single night with her. She will have to do everything that you ask of her with out question. Now I will be taking bids for five nights. Highest bid gets the first night. Any questions on how this will work? None. Good. Lets start the bidding at $100."

As Bobby looked around he saw the leering faces of the men about to bid and the look of greed on the face of the man running the auction. The heavyset man that had been talking reached behind him to pull Priestess to the front for the men to get a better look at her. The veil was gone now and Bobby could see her face. His mouth was hanging open with what he saw. She was no girl like he thought. She was a full-grown woman. She looked to be about 22 years old, close to the same age as Bobby. She had long straight dark brown hair that reached her lower back and fell around her shoulders to hide her face. That face was the most striking thing about her. She had large eyes that had a look of knowing and seeing too much for her age. It was the same look that Jean and the Professor could get at times. She had a small nose and mouth, framed by high cheekbones. She was pale but that did not seem surprising after seeing what she was forced to wear. Her dress had been torn in a few places and had dirt stains along the hem and right side. It looked as if she had been dragged over there. Bobby never once heard her say anything. She just looked at the ground with a blank look on her face. That blank look was far worse than the hopeless look he saw in the tent.

He had to do something. He had to save her. That thought kept beating in his head. He had to save her. It was almost like his life depended on hers. Then just as he was about to rush forward and take her away she looked up at him and just shook her head. That stopped him in his tracks. He wanted to move but his feet would not listen. This was more than he could take.

_ Why would she not let me help her?_ Then he got a picture in his head of a tower with flames around it. It looked like the card that he saw in the tent during Kitty's reading._ What did that card mean? Some thing about danger and trouble, I know that much. Well of course there would be danger and trouble if I tried to save her. People have so little faith in me. I think I can save one woman from a bunch of carnie people._

With that decided Bobby got his feet to move and he sneaked over to the side of the auction area out of Priestess's line of sight. If he were going to save her than she would have to not get in his way. He iced up his hands and got ready for a fight. When the bidding got going and people were not paying attention to Priestess Bobby made his move. He lunged forward and dragged Priestess into the shadows with him. He started to run with Priestess a few steps behind. They came to a fork in the row of tents and Bobby wanted to head back to the open fair grounds but Priestess took off in the other direction. Bobby ran behind her watching for any pursuers. That was when he heard the roar of the man running the auction. He was yelling at everyone to find her and the man that found her would get a free night with her. That was all Bobby had to hear.

He tried to force her back to the main fair grounds. She would have none of it. She ran to the animal pens. She stopped in front of the cage of a wild wolf. It was a beautiful animal, Gray and black fur and piercing eyes that looked far too intelligent to be a mere animal. It was a look that Booby had seen on Logan's face a few times. Priestess reached out for the wolf and he stuck his muzzle through the bars for her to pet. She turned to Bobby and pointed to the lock. He understood what she wanted but why she was so hell bent on freeing a wolf was beyond him. He did as she asked and froze the lock and popped it open. That was when the wolf lunged at him and pined him to the ground. Bobby did not move afraid of doing anything that might cause the wolf to attack. Priestess walked in front of the wolf and looked it dead in the eye and pointed off to the right side where there were voices moving in their direction. The wolf moved off of Bobby and Priestess held a hand out to help Bobby to his feet. When Bobby got to his feet he looked at Priestess and she just nodded and pulled him toward the fair grounds, with the wolf a few steps behind.

When they reached the bench in front of the fried dough stand Priestess sat down and folded her hands in her lap. The wolf sat at her feet under the bench out of sight. Bobby was stunned. _Why was she sitting there like noting was wrong? They had to get out of there._

She just looked at him with those eyes of hers and he knew that she had a reason for sitting there. Then he caught a flash of a vision from her. She looked shocked. He knew that she did not mean for him to see that and what he saw made him reach for her. He saw the man from the auction coming out of one of the tents with a gun in his hand. A shot is fired and Priestess jumps in the way to save Bobby. _How could he let her do that? How could she be willing to do that for him? She did not even know him._

He was now more determined to protect her than ever. That was when he heard Kurt pop up behind him. Bobby spun around and started to throw an ice shield up. He thought the pop was the gunshot. At the same time Priestess jumped to her feet and hugged Bobby for dear life. That was when the gunshot went off. There was nothing anyone could do. The bullet hit Priestess in the back and she fell to the ground. The wolf took off after the gunman. Bobby reached down to get Priestess. As he lifted her up his hands were covered in blood. Bobby looked about to lose it. He handed Priestess over to Kurt. He did not ask any questions he just teleported back to the mansion to get Priestess medical aid. Bobby took off after the wolf. He had a new thought running wild in his head. He had to save the wolf. When he caught up to the wolf he had the gunman backed into a corner. Bobby walked up to the wolf and tried to pull him away. The wolf only growled and moved closer to the gunman.

"Come on guy. She wouldn't want you to get hurt going after this creep. Come with me and I'll take you to her. I'll take care of him." Bobby said in what he thought was a calm tone of voice. The wolf seemed to understand. He backed off a few steps and waited to see what Bobby would do. Bobby did the only thing he could think of. He froze the guy from the shoulders down. Then he turned to the wolf and led him back to the bench in front of the fried dough vendor. It was odd how everything kept leading him there. Bobby didn't have much time to think on that. Within minutes the rest of the X- Men were there.

The rest of the night went in a blur for Bobby. Scott took charge and had Kurt and Logan take the gunman to the police. Jean went with them to help get a confession out of the man. Scott, Gambit and Bobby took the X- Van back to the mansion so that they could hide the wolf and a bloody Bobby from the police.

Scott then went back to get Jean, Kurt and Logan. Kurt had teleported too many times that night and was grateful for the ride. The only topic of conversation was Priestess. They all had heard the story from Kurt and Kitty. Kitty was resting back in her room. They seem to think that Priestess had used a little too strong of a mental push to get Kitty out of the tent. She would be fine in the morning. The same might not be said for Priestess. She had been shot in the back and it hit her lung and collapsed it. Hank was working on her now. Then there was Bobby. Bobby seemed so lost when they left him. It was a side to Bobby that no one had ever seen. He went right down to the medlabs and waited to hear from Hank. He would not talk to anyone or even look at anyone. Rogue was with him when Scott left to pick up the other three X- Men.

"I sensed a great loss from Bobby. It was like the light was taken from the world. I never felt loss like that. It was more than I could take. I had to break off contact with him. I also got a feeling of guilt over what had happened. From what you told us, Kurt, there was nothing Bobby could have done," Jean said from the front of the van.

Kurt took his eyes off the passing county side to think. "There was something more going on than what I could see. That Priestess woman lunged at Bobby before the gun went off. It was almost as if she knew what was going to happen. I have a feeling that Bobby knew as well." Kurt returned his eyes to the window with a thoughtful look on his face.

"If he knew what was going to happen why the hell did he let her get shot." Scott said from the front. He was more scared that one of his friends might have been hurt than angry that Bobby had not protected this Priestess woman. Jean put a hand on his arm and sent him a wave comfort. She understood why he said what he said but she could not let him take his fear out on poor Bobby.

Then Logan piped up from next to Kurt with a thought that had been bothering him most of the night. "What do we know about this wolf that was with them? It seemed a little to smart for a normal wolf. The way it looked at me was more than an alpha wolf thing. How do we know that this woman is safe to have around? No offence Jean but I'm not too sure I like having a telepath around that could do what we think she can do. I saw Kitty and that had to be one strong push to knock down her mental shields that way and why did she effect Bobby the way she did?"

Jean thought about what she had been able to see in Bobby's mind. "I think that she's ok to have at the mansion. From what I picked up from Bobby she tried to protect him at every turn. The wolf is some how connected to her. I'm not sure how but from what Bobby could see she has a way of talking to it. The most we can do is wait and see what she has to say when she recovers. The Professor is very interested in her. He has felt a few strange telepathic calls over the past week. He thinks that Priestess might have been making them but he is not sure, it is a kind of telepathy that he has not encountered before." The rest of the ride back was spent with each person lost to his or her own thoughts.


	2. The darkness and the light

Ok this is my first FanFic. So please be kind when you read. I'm still trying to get the hang of how this works. I do not own the X-Men. I did use some names from another set of novels. The names of the wolves come from Christine Feehan's Dark series. I know, I just admitted to reading romance books. I am a sap for a good love story. The rating on this story is for later chapters that will have some nasty parts to them. These first few chapters are Character intro chapters. I'm giving up on trying to write Cajun. So Gambit will sound a little different. Please let me know what you think and if you spot any mistakes I'll try to fix them.

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Bobby sat at the bedside of the injured woman know only as Priestess. All his thoughts were focused on her. He sat at her bedside in the same clothes that he wore to the fair the night before. He still had her blood all over his shirt from when he picked her up and handed her to Kurt. Hank was able to get him to wash the blood off his hands, but Bobby still felt like they were covered in her blood. He had not slept in a day or so. He was so afraid that if he did she might slip away from him. He could not figure out why he felt this way. He had just met this woman a few hours ago, but he felt connected to her for some reason. He never even seemed to notice the people that would come and go from the lab. Hank had tried to tell him four or five times that the woman would be fine. That did not seem to make Bobby feel any better. Hank was worried about the health of his friend so he asked Jean to talk him into getting some rest.  
  
When Jean walked in she was shocked to see the state that Bobby was in. He looked much older than his 24 years. That happy smile and quick wit she had come to depend on was gone. It had been replaced with a somber guilt ridden façade Jean had never seen on Bobby. When she tried to get him to go eat something the only response she could get was a shake of his head as he continued to stare at the injured woman. This behavior went on for another day and a half.  
  
The Professor then came down to talk to Bobby. When he entered the medlab the first thing he saw was a despondent Bobby holding the hand of the injured woman. The Professor took a minute to look the woman over. She was a small woman compared to the other women living at the mansion. He could see how the rest of the X-Men would think she was a young girl. She might have been 5'5" at most and may be 110 pounds. She looked so young lying in that bed. This was the part that tore the Professor up the most. He could never get over seeing the sick and injured in here. It brought back memories of fallen friends. He felt a wave of comfort coming from somewhere. He looked around the lab to see if it might have been Jean that sent the wave of emotion, but she was nowhere around. He tried to trace the feeling back to the source but it faded as soon as he felt it. That was when he decided to talk to Bobby and see what he could find out about this woman.  
  
"Bobby, there was nothing that you could have done to save her. From what Kurt told me she seemed to know what would happen. Now don't make her sacrifice be in vane. Go up and get some thing to eat and then rest for a while. It will not do her any good for you to run yourself into the ground." The Professor laid a comforting hand on Bobby's shoulder. Bobby looked up straight into the Professor's eyes.  
  
"How can I leave her? She is here because of me. If I had only waited like Kurt told me to she would not have been hurt. I don't know if what I saw was a true vision or not, but I saw what was going to happen right before the gunshot went off. Priestess looked shocked that I had seen it. Is there anyway that she might be able to have these visions? If it were a real vision why would she have jumped in the way of the bullet? This all makes no sense to me. I also have this feeling of grief that won't let up. It is not an emotion coming from me. I can feel someone sending the emotion to me. I have no empathic powers. How can I feel this grief?" Bobby looked away from the Professor back to the woman lying so still on the bed next to him.  
  
"Let me look in your mind and see if I can trace these emotions back to the person sending them. I might be able to see who they are and why they are doing this. I might also be able to block them and get you released from this forced empathy." The professor moved behind the chair that Bobby was sitting in and put his hands on either side of Bobby's head.  
  
When the Professor opened his powers and entered Bobby's mind he got a brief flash of the vision from the other night. It seemed that it was true that this woman did have visions and they did come to pass, thought the Professor as he moved deeper into Bobby's mind. The Professor loved the freedom he felt as he moved through a person's mind. He was no longer limited by the fact that he could not walk. When he was in a person's mind he could do anything he wanted. He could fly like a bird or swim like a fish in the sea. For right now he was content to just walk in Bobby's mind as he looked for the source of the grief that Bobby was feeling.  
  
The Professor found the empathic link and tried to follow it back to the source. Once he started to see whom the sender was, a vast physic wall crashed down. In the world of Bobby's mind a storm raged out of control. The Professor walked calmly up to the wall and started to probe at it in different places. To his surprise there was no way in. He had never come across a mental block as strong as this. He could break it down but that might cause damage to the other person's mind. The best he could do was to throw a mental wall up of his own in Bobby's mind. It should hold for a while. It will at least let the other person know that Bobby was not to be used again. Once the wall was in place and the Professor took one last look around Bobby's mind to make sure there were no gaps that the other telepath could use, he left.  
  
"What did you do Professor? I don't feel any of the emotions any more, but the last one that I could feel was dark hatred. It was aimed at you. I thank you for your help but I think the other person was really pissed at what you did." Bobby raked a hand through his hair with a worried look on his face.  
  
"I just put a mental wall up that should block the other telepath from sending those emotions for a while. It was a very strong mind that I found at the end of the empathic link. I have a feeling that the mystery telepath will make an appearance soon. I want to see if I can try to wake Priestess up. From what Hank has told me she is in some kind of self- induced coma. I want to see if she knows who this telepath is and if they are a danger to us." The Professor then moved over to the opposite side of the bed from Bobby and took the hand of the sleeping woman.  
  
When he entered her mind it was a minefield of disturbing images and visions. He had a hard time moving through her mind. It was like walking in a lake of quicksand in a rainstorm. Above all of these images was a dark presence. The dark being seemed to be pulling the most disturbing memories this woman had to the front of her mind. He could feel her reliving the horror of past assaults and nightmare visions that would not leave her in peace. He remained a shadow in her mind. Floating from one nightmare to another. There was one bright light in all the darkness of her mind. The Professor went over to see what he could find out about this light. He almost fell to his knees when he neared the light. It was a pure source of goodness and hope. That one light was the only thing holding back the darkness of the other being. That light was her soul casting a beacon for others to follow in the darkness. The Professor had never seen a soul that pure before. Everyone had a dark side; no one was pure goodness like this woman seemed to be. He sent a soft probe into that light. What he saw in there was a scared child that had the weight of the world bearing down on her.  
  
Priestess, my name is Professor X. I came here to help you. I need you to wake up and help me push the darkness way. He sent the thoughts with a feeling of friendship and caring. The child in the soul looked toward him and raised a hand to stop him from moving any closer. She sent a single image of a priest on a throne with what looked to be people praying to him. This was an odd image that the Professor could not understand. He then felt a force pushing him out of the woman's mind. He fought to stay where he was. There was still so much he wanted to ask her. As he left the woman's mind he could see the light fading a little, almost dimming out like a candle in a soft wind. Then the light grew brighter and he could see the child in the light with a lost look of hopelessness on her face. He found himself back in his own mind. He was left with more questions than answers.  
  
"What did you find out Professor? Could you wake her up?" Bobby said in a hopeful voice.  
  
"No. I'm sorry, she did not want to wake up and there was a dark being in her mind that I did not want to fight and I could not trace it back. It was not the same person that had been in your mind. I do know that much. This darkness seemed to be forcing her to relive nightmares from her past. It seemed to gain power from the memories it forced her to relive. She fought me as I tried to wake her. She has a very strong telepathic power but it is on a level I have never seen before. She seems to pull power from her very soul. I cannot see how a person can tap into the power of their soul the way she does. When I use my power I use a part of my mind that is dormant in most people. Priestess can tap into the power of her spirit. That is way she is on life support now. I leave a part of my mind in my body to keep my heart pumping and air moving through my lungs. She took all of her being with her when she retreated into her mind after being shot. I have never seen a telepath do that. She was fighting the darkness with everything she has but I don't know long she can keep it up. She did send me a thought. It was more of an image, like the one she sent you of the tower. I'll have to see want I can make of it. I do not know much when it comes to the occult. I'll have to do some research." The Professor sat back in his wheelchair with a puzzled look on his face.  
  
The wolf had sat at Bobby's feet through this conversation. As the Professor sat back the wolf got up and moved to sit next to him and lean his muzzle in the Professor's lap. It almost seemed like the wolf was trying to thank the Professor what he had tried to do. The Professor reached down and ran his hand through the think fur along the side of the wolf. With that acknowledgment the wolf went back to Bobby and tugged on his arm gently and then moved to the door of the medlab.  
  
"It seems that he wants you to go with him. I have to agree, you need to eat and rest and the wolf should have some time out of this room. Go and rest, it is an order." The Professor said with heartfelt concern. Bobby took one last look at the woman sleeping on the bed and then got up to follow the wolf out of the room. The Professor sat there watching the girl trying to figure out the meaning of the image she sent him.  
  
Gambit was walking down the hall heading toward the danger room to have a workout session with Scott, when a distracted Bobby bumped into him.  
  
"Hey, you need to be watching where you are going. Is everything ok with the girl that save you the other night?" Gambit said this as a bit of a joke on the younger X-Man.  
  
"Oh, you think it's funny that Priestess almost died saving me. I don't think it is a joke at all. She is still in a coma and there seems to be nothing that anyone can do to help her. The last thing I need is a Cajun with a bad sense of comedic timing. So if you will get out of my way I have to let the wolf out." As Bobby finished talking the wolf stepped around him and growled at Gambit.  
  
"Gambit meant no harm in his little joke. The Professor could not talk to this woman at all. That is strange. I have never known the Professor to be out matched in the telepathy department. Did the professor see anything in her mind that mind help to wake her up?" Gambit said with true concern. The mocking tone gone now that he saw the pain his friend was in. Gambit was much like Bobby in ways. He never wanted to see his friends or teammates in pain. At times Gambit and the Professor thought he might have a limited amount of empathic powers, but they could never seem to prove it one way or another. Gambit, himself, thought that it was not so much an empathic power but a trick he picked up during his life as a thief. He had to be able to judge the mood of a person before he would pick their pocket. If the person was too alert he might feel the hand in his pocket. That was not empathy it was a survival skill.  
  
Bobby looked up at the face of the tall lean Cajun to judge if Gambit meant what he had said. Gambit was wearing the dark leather body armor under a long duster coat that he was known for. It was so much a part of him that Bobby could hardly remember a time that Gambit did not wear that body armor and duster. His red on black eyes gave nothing away, so it was hard for Bobby to judge Gambit's mood. Gambit was a loner on a team of misfits. He had few true friends at the mansion and Bobby was not one of them. Bobby had a hard time understanding Gambit's detached behavior to others. It was not the same detachment that Logan showed. Logan was at arms length with the world. Gambit on the other hand tried to charm the world and you could never tell if he was being genuine or if he was just saying what you wanted to hear. Bobby did have to admit that Gambit was a good conman. He thought he might as well tell Gambit what he wanted to know. There seemed to be no harm in telling him and maybe Gambit might know something about the image that Priestess had sent to the Professor.  
  
"The only thing the Professor could get from her was a strange image of a priest or holy person on a throne with what looked to be people praying to him. It was a strange image that the professor could not understand. Do you know anything about tarot cards? She sent me an image of a burning tower that was the same as one of the cards that came up during Kitty's reading earlier that night. I think this image is another one of the cards as well but I don't know what they mean." As Bobby said this a stunned look quickly crossed Gambit's face. He tried act like nothing bothered him in what Bobby had said.  
  
"I know a bit about the cards. I knew a seer back in New Orleans that had visions and used the cards to tell people's fate. That does sound like one of the cards but I'm not sure what one it is. Let me think on it for a while." Gambit went to move around Bobby when Bobby reached out and grabbed his arm.  
  
"If you are playing one of your games now, I don't like it. If you know something you better tell me. This is not something to mess around with. If I find out that you withheld information and something happens to Priestess I'll come after you." With that said Bobby stormed off down the hall with the wolf making one last growl then following after him.  
  
Gambit stood stunned in the middle of the hall. Something must have taken over poor Bobby's mind, thought Gambit with a shake of his head. That was not the Bobby that he loved to drive up the wall by messing up his pranks and jokes. The Bobby he knew would have understood that there were some things he just could not talk about. Bobby had never threatened anyone before. Bobby was the boy next door to a tee. Gambit could picture him as Beaver on Leave It To Beaver. He had the short sandy colored hair and the lean build of a surfer. Gambit would find him most of the time in one of the rec. rooms watching reruns of old cartoons and miming the words to the ones he knew well. He did have to admit to himself that he knew a bit more than he was letting on. How could this be happening? It was a story told to scare little boys and girls into listening to the seers. There was no way it was true. As Gambit thought all of this he made his way to the kitchen so that he could go out and have a smoke. It drove him crazy that he could not smoke in the mansion but it was the Professor's house so he got to make the rules.  
  
When Gambit arrived in the kitchen he found Bobby and Kurt sitting at the table talking. He walked past them to the French doors that lead to the back yard of the mansion. He was about to head out when Bobby spoke up.  
  
"Gambit, I'm sorry for what I said a few minutes ago. I have not been myself for the last few days. I have had one too many people playing with my mind and emotions. I am just so worn out that I kind of lashed out at you." Bobby sat at the table looking like a lost child. He looked so tired that Gambit thought he might just fall asleep where he was.  
  
"Consider it forgotten, my friend. I knew it was not you talking. When I know something I will tell you. Now go get some sleep before you run into Logan and really get yourself in trouble." Gambit moved to open the door. The wolf came over and stood waiting to go out. "I'll take care of the wolf for a while. I don't think you are in any shape to do it." He opened the door and let the wolf out and gave Bobby a nod, and then he followed the wolf out. Gambit watched as the wolf made his way over to the woods that ran along the left hand side of the property. He started to follow at a slow pace so that the wolf could get a chance to hunt. Gambit just wanted to make sure it hunted the right type of prey. Once the wolf had fed the pair made their way back toward the mansion. Gambit sat in one of the chairs that were scattered around the back yard. The wolf wandered around the grounds, sniffing at the air from time to time, or standing stock-still and listening to the sounds of the night. Gambit lit up his cigarette and thought about the letter he had received out of the blue from an old friend. It came with the gift of an old set of tarot cards. All the note said was that Gambit would know who to give the cards to when the time came. The note and the cards came the day before the attack on Priestess.  
  
While Gambit was lost in the world of his own thoughts the wolf had wandered over to the woods once again. He walked into the woods sniffing the air and found the sent he was looking for. It was a familiar sent that he had missed during his confinement with the traveling carnival. He followed the scent back to the source. It lead to a female wolf that looked like a copy of the male only a little smaller. He brushed his body along the side of the female wolf in greeting and quickly looked around for the real person he was looking for. That person was hidden in a tree above the two wolves. He jumped down to the ground with out making a sound. The two wolves come up and sat in front of him. He reached out to the minds of the wolves to find out what they knew.  
  
"It is good to see you are well my old friend. I know that I asked a lot of you when I sent you to watch over Destiny. She would not let me help her and I knew that she would not send you away. How is she? I can no long reach her in my mind and that worries me. I tried to use the mind of the man that saved her but some one is blocking me. What can you tell me, Nicolae?" The man sat running a hand down the side of the male wolf.  
  
"She is not doing well Talon. I cannot reach her either. That is not a surprise. I need her to reach out to me to talk to her. I was able to find out that the darkness is after her. I think she fears that Asmodeus might have found her. She does not know where she is. She is afraid to wake up. She needs you now. She is trying to fight it herself from what this Professor person said. She projected the image of the Hierophant to him. This Professor did not understand the image. I think she was looking for you and was afraid to reach out to find you. When I talked to her a few days ago she said that the nightmares were back and that she could no longer hold the visions at bey. I came as soon as I could. It will not be easy to get in there. That man that is sitting out side now is tough to get by. I'll see if I can pull him away from the house so that you can sneak in. I'll need Syndil's help. I'll need her to chase me out of the woods and get him to come after us. Do you think you're up to a game of keep away dear sister?" Nicolae looked over at his sister.  
  
Syndil huffed at Nicolae in a disgusted manner. "I am more than up for the challenge of your little game." In a softer tone she added, "It is good to have you back." She then looked over at Talon. "I will not have you send Nicolae off like that again. I know what those people did to him. I will not let that happen again. I don't care what mess Destiny gets herself into I will not let anything happen to Nicolae. Destiny is yours to protect and Nicolae is mine." She did not wait for Talon to say anything. She knew that he felt horrid about what Nicolae had to go through to protect Destiny. She just had to let it be known that it would not happen again. She started to head for the house so that she and Nicolae could divert the attention of the man outside.  
  
Nicolae gave one last lick to Talon's hand and followed Syndil out to play their game of keep away. 


End file.
